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Reports are now confirmed that actor Bill Paxton passed away this Oscar-weekend at the age of 61 due to complications from surgery. Paxton began his career in Hollywood doing art department and background work before he was cast in a small cameo in The Terminator by director James Cameron in 1984. Since then, Paxton has gone on to star in many roles in an impressive number of iconic films. He again teamed up with Cameron for Aliens as Private Hudson in 1986, and has starred in blockbusters like Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997), U-571 (2000), Vertical Limit (2000), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014). His most recent project was the lead in a television adaptation of director Antione Fuqua’s 2001 cop-drama Training Day.

In addition to acting, Paxton also directed a number of pictures. He directed himself and co-stars Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe in the violent FBI drama Frailty (2001), and Shia LaBeouf in The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005). His final role will be in a film called The Circle, opposite Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Beauty and the Beast), Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Big Short), and Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Bridge of Spies). His contribution to film throughout the years will surely be missed in the years to come. Thanks Bill for all of your great work. Our thoughts are with your family and friends. Continue reading →

There were a lot of raise-your-eyebrow commercials at this year’s Super Bowl, and sadly they were much more memorable than any of the traditional, so-called “hilarious” Super Bowl entries. The most controversial entries was the lengthy 84 Lumber commercial where mother and daughter encounter a giant concrete wall on the US border, and the American Petroleum Institutes praise-spot for Big Oil. In addition to the barrage of propagandized TV spots and beer commercials were a number of upcoming blockbuster movie trailers. Among them were those for The Fate of the Furious, Baywatch, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, John Wick: Chapter 2, and Transformers: The Last Knight. The most impressive movie trailer, however, came from up-and-coming director Daniel Espinosa‘s Life with Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners, Nightcrawler), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, The Girl on the Train), and Ryan Reynolds (Waiting, Safe House). Continue reading →

Fans of Marvel films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man have been waiting with high anticipation for the release of Deadpool since last year’s Comic-Con celebration in San Diego. This week their waiting is over as Deadpool will be opening in theaters nationwide this Friday. The new film stars Ryan Reynolds (Safe House, Self/Less) as former Special Forces operative Wade Wilson, who, after being subjected to a rogue military experiment, turns mercenary as he discovers he has accelerated healing abilities. Also starring in the film are actors Morena Baccarin (Heartland, Spy), TJ Miller (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Silicon Valley), and Stefan Kapicic (Tears for Sale, Big Miracle) as the voice of Colossus. The film is directed by visual effects producer Tim Miller from a script by co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (GI Joe: Retaliation, Zombieland). The trailer for the movie is here on MADE. If you’ve been waiting for this one be sure to see it on the big screen this Valentine’s weekend. Enjoy!

Fans of the James Bond film franchise will once again get to see Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) grace the screen as the infamous British Secret Service agent. Spectre is the first release in the series since 2012’s Skyfall, and is once again being directed by Oscar-winning Skyfall and American Beauty director Sam Mendes. Spectre will see the character of Bond return to his roots, as he embarks on a mission to uncover the top secret criminal organization known as SPECTRE, while M fights struggles to keep the British government from dismantling the Secret Service. This is the same criminal organization that the character faced in the Sean Connery films, and first appeared in the Bond novels by author Ian Fleming. Skyfall writers John Logan, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade penned the script for the new film with screenwriter Jez Butterworth (Get On Up, Edge of Tomorrow). Continue reading →

From left to right: actors Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, and Ryan Gosling will co-star in The Big Short.

Writer/director Adam McKay just released news that his upcoming project, The Big Short, has been given a release date for Christmas Day 2015. The release is expected to be held at the conclusion of the Los Angeles AFI Film Festival, but I’m pretty sure a nationwide release will be happening later on in 2016. The film is based on Michael Lewis’ novel of the same name, which focuses on a group of guys who made millions when they bet against the collateralized debt obligation bubble after predicting the economic crash of 2008. Making up the all-star cast are actors Brad Pitt (Inglorious Basterds, Fury), Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, Out of the Furnace), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy), Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Place Beyond the Pines), Steve Carell (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, The Lincoln Lawyer), and Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Prisoners). Selena Gomez will also be appearing in the movie as one of the supporting characters. Director McKay co-wrote the script with screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Life of David Gale, The Interpreter). We’ll keep an eye out for a new trailer, which should be coming soon.

Chances are you’re one of the millions of people that helped Jurassic World top the worldwide box-office record, but I thought I would share my thoughts with you anyway. To begin with it was a very well-made movie; Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Guardians of the Galaxy) did a very good job stepping into a more serious character (give or take a few cheesy jokes), the cinematography was great, the script went further into the genetics behind the dinosaurs in Jurassic World, and director Colin Trevorrow did a nice job complimenting World with the original Jurassic Park 20 years ago. For instance, we saw the kids driving the 1992 Jeep used in the original, the recreation hall from the original park, young Tim’s night-vision goggles, Dr. Henry Wu (portrayed again by DB Wong), and Trevorrow let the Jurassic Park theme play for pretty much all of the first 15 minutes; so you knew you were watching a Jurassic Park film. In the end it was a very entertaining watch and did well connecting itself to the original movie. That being said I can’t help but point out a couple of things.
The first thing I didn’t particularly like was the heavy reliance on CGI technology; the original Jurassic Park utilized computer animation with a large amount of live animatronic dinosaurs (but that’s no slate against the terrific effects that we saw in World). As far as the story goes, I was a little surprised to see that the layout of the screenplay was almost virtually identical to Jurassic Park. We begin by seeing the park, then we meet the staff and then we meet the raptors, followed by the tour in which the kids get attacked by the big-guy and end up upside down in the transport vehicle (just like the Jeep in Jurassic Park) while all hell is breaking loose in the rest of the park. Then the attempted resolutions happen, followed by the finale which ended exactly as the original: with the T-Rex dinosaurs fighting it out with the velociraptors and the people are, of course, just hanging out right in the middle. All that aside, I was fairly impressed by the film overall and would recommend giving it a watch, but it’s definitely not anything that you have to see in theaters, so maybe wait for Netflix or something like that. Enjoy!

The new trailer for the upcoming 24th installment in the James Bond franchise, titled Spectre, debuted during Game 3 of the 2015 NBA Playoffs this week. Once again starring Daniel Craig (Road to Perdition, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) in the title role, the film will bring Craig’s Bond story full circle as he finally comes face-to-face with the secret organization he has been hunting since his first outing in Casino Royale. If you’re not familiar with the series history, let me clue-you-in. In author Ian Fleming‘s original Bond novels, and the original Sean Connery films in the 1960s, Bond was always faced with a scheme carried out by a different member of the SPECTRE organization, whose leader was revealed as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967), and who remained Bond’s primary nemesis until Connery’s last series appearance in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). The character and organization essentially disappeared from the series after Roger Moore took over the part for Live and Let Die (1973). The new film, Spectre, will now bring Bond back to his roots, as the new plot finds him tracking the scope of the organization’s reach in Britain’s political system while M struggles to keep the secret service from being dismantled. Returning to reprise their roles from Skyfall are actors Ralph Fiennes (The Constant Gardener, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), and Ben Whishaw (I’m Not There, Cloud Atlas), along with new cast members Dave Bautista (Riddick, Guardians of the Galaxy), Monica Bellucci (Malena, The Matrix Reloaded), Lea Seydoux (Inglorious Basterds, Blue Is The Warmest Color), and Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Big Eyes). Skyfall director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) is returning to direct the new film from a screenplay by John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator), and writing-team Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day). The movie is due out in theaters this November. Enjoy the trailer!

Earlier in the month we found out that private files, including film scripts, reels, and documents including emails between company employees and executives, were stolen from Sony Pictures by a group of computer hackers that call themselves the Guardians of Peace. The group has threatened to “ruin” the company if their upcoming James Franco and Seth Rogen comedy, The Interview, is not pulled from release this coming Christmas Day. The G.O.P. has already released a number of documents including emails between executives at the company covering everything from upcoming movie plans, celebrity secrets, medical records, racial slurs, and unbalanced pay between actors and their female counterparts. Sony discovered Monday that an early version of the screenplay for their next James Bond installment with Eon Productions Ltd., S.P.E.C.T.R.E., was among the material stolen and leaked in the cyberattack, and they were quick to give the public a friendly warning about copyright infringement. This statement was posted on the James Bond website Saturday, December 13th, by Eon Productions Ltd:

“EON PRODUCTIONS, the producers of the James Bond films, learned this morning that an early version of the screenplay for the new Bond film SPECTRE is amongst the material stolen and illegally made public by hackers who infiltrated the Sony Pictures Entertainment computer system. Eon Productions is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents. The screenplay for SPECTRE is the confidential information of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Danjaq, LLC, and is protected by the laws of copyright in the United Kingdom and around the world. It may not (in whole or in part) be published, reproduced, disseminated or otherwise utilised by anyone who obtains a copy of it. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Danjaq LLC will take all necessary steps to protect their rights against the persons who stole the screenplay, and against anyone who makes infringing uses of it or attempts to take commercial advantage of confidential property it knows to be stolen.”

Pretty serious shit. Principle photography for the new movie began on December 8th with Daniel Craig returning as Bond, and the movie is scheduled for theatrical release this November 6, 2015. We’ll keep you updated on anymore leaked information.

The upcoming comedy, The Interview, with James Franco and Seth Rogen has already stirred-up plenty of controversy before it’s even reached it’s release date. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, went so far as to declare the movie’s public release an “act of war,” and a group of hackers called the Guardians of Peace have released several Sony Pictures corporate documents that they attained after hacking the company’s computer database last month in an effort to stop the release. But thus far Sony has given no public statement saying that they will pull the film from theaters, so as far as we all know, it is still scheduled for release this Christmas Day. The plot of the movie revolves around a pair of reporters who are recruited by the CIA to infiltrate North Korea under the guise of interviewing Kim Jong Un, and then assassinate Un at their first opportunity. Seth Rogen co-directed the movie with Evan Goldberg (This Is The End, Neighbors), and the film also stars Lizzy Caplan (127 Hours, Hot Tub Time Machine) and Randall Park (Dinner For Schmucks, Sex Tape). Screenwriter Dan Sterling (The Sarah Silverman Project, The Office) wrote the screenplay with Rogen and Goldberg. You can watch the trailer here on MADE, and if going to the movies on Christmas Day is a family thing (or just your thing!) then by all means, go and see it this December 25th.

We finally have something to call the upcoming James Bond installment other than “Bond 24”. Eon Productions Ltd recently announced that the new film would bring the Bond franchise back full circle with the title S.P.E.C.T.R.E., the name of the organization Bond originally battled in author Ian Fleming‘s original novels. The first Bond film, Dr. No (1962), was the first to introduce the organization as Bond’s primary antagonist, and Sean Connery’s Bond films would continue with Fleming’s direct material until Roger Moore took over with Live and Let Die in 1973. S.P.E.C.T.R.E.‘s plot will follow Bond and M (played by Daniel Craig and Ralph Fiennes respectively) as they fight to keep the British Secret Service from being destroyed from within by the schemes of a mysterious organization. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. stands for Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. The cast will once again feature Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris as Q and Moneypenny, as well as Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds), Dave Bautista (Riddick, Guardians of the Galaxy), Monica Bellucci (The Matrix Reloaded, The Whistleblower), and Lea Seydoux (Blue Is The Warmest Color, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Skyfall director Sam Mendes will return to direct and the film has been scheduled for release in November 2015. Stay tuned.